What is your Islamic Name?

A lot of people which includes muslim and non-muslim who met me normally will ask me about my Islam name. The answer which i will always tell is that my name is Ng Kuan Beng. Thus a lot will ask, i thought that is your old name? No addition of bin Abdullah? Here are some of the misunderstood issues which i am going to explain.

Islamic Name

What is Islamic name? Islamic name is a name which contains good meaning and doesn't have the meaning which put partner with Allah (mensyirikkan Allah). It does not matter whether it is a Chinese name, Indian name, Japanese name, Korean name and so on AS LONG AS it contains GOOD MEANING.

Can we retain our name?

Can a person retain their name if they want to become muslim? YES, they can retain their name 100% as this has been practised by some of the close companions of the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet himself (May Allah peace be upon him). Examples are Muhammad bin Abdullah, Umar al Khattab and Ali bin Abu Talib.

Is putting bin Abdullah something that is allowed?

Is putting bin Abdullah to revert name something that is allow even though his father name is not Abdullah? The Holy Quran gives us a very clear statement:

Call them by (the names of) their fathers: that is juster in the sight of Allah. But if ye know not their father's (names, call them) your Brothers in faith, or your maulas. But there is no blame on you if ye make a mistake therein: (what counts is) the intention of your hearts: and Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. (Al-Ahzab: 5)

Bin Abdullah to show that we are servant of Allah?

Some may say that putting bin Abdullah is to show that they are servant of Allah. But the truth is when someone choose to become a muslim, he/she automatically become a servant of Allah as a muslim is someone who submits to Allah's wills.

How about those who already put bin Abdullah?

For those who already changed in that way through the guidance of those who have no knowledge of this, may Allah forgive and guide them to the right path. But for those who wish to change back may have to find information at some government departments such as JPN.

If don't put bin Abdullah, how to let people know I am a muslim?

There are a lot of ways to show people that you are a muslim. One of the ways is by growing beard as a lot of muslim normally grow beard and it is also something that a muslim should do as it is stated in the hadith:

Hadith - Bukhari 7:781, Narrated Ibn 'Umar:
Allah's Apostle said, "Cut the moustaches short and leave the beard (as it is)."

Another way which some of my friends did is by putting an arabic name in front of their name, example like Firdaus Wong Wai Hung, Adam Sih Huah Sing, Adam Golku Bin Subramaniam. And what I like to do to show people that I am a muslim is by going to the mosque always as muslim guys are very encourage to go to mosque daily to perform their 5 times solat a day.

Any example of those who retain their name 100%?

There are a lot of reverts in Malaysia who didn't change their name and retain it 100% . They are Lim Jooi Soon, Ann Wan Seng, Goh Yee Mei, Eh Jun Guang, Shah Kirit Bin Kalkulai Govindji and this also include myself Ng Kuan Beng.

Conclusion

Islam is easy, practical and always teach us that there is no compulsion (force) in religion. It should be the revert own's decision whether they want to retain their name or not. But do not be surprise of people who don't know about this as a lot of people which includes muslim and non-muslim have misunderstanding towards Islam and its practice. It is the duty of those who know to inform those who don't.

Bahasa Arab adalah Bahasa syurga ?

Diriwayatkan oleh at-Tabrani di dalam al-Awsat dari Abu Hurairah r.a berkata bahawa Rasulullah s.a.w telah bersabda: “Aku adalah orang Arab, al-Quran adalah berbahasa Arab dan bahasa ahli syurga adalah bahasa Arab”. Al-Albani menyebut di dalam Silsilah al-Do’iefah no. 161 bahawa hadith ini adalah palsu.


from the Quran and Sunnah there is only one hadith above that say that the language of the people of paradise is arabic. but it has been classified as false by sheikh Al Albani.

my opinion : regardless of whatever language is used in heaven, it is not of our concern as we should be concern of trying our best to enter Jannah by doing more deeds solely for Allah. and if really it is arabic that is going to be used , Allah can just simply make everyone can speak arabic. but it is an added advantage for one to learn arab as it is a tool for the person to understand the Quran and Hadith in more advance stage. 

Purpose of Life

People everywhere are asking the questions; "What is the purpose of life?" and "Why are we here?"

Some will answer that we are on this earth just to live a happy life. Some have other answers.

Islam is a perfect religion and it provide a clear and concise answers for all questions.

Regarding what is the purpose of life in Islam,

Allah states in the Quran that He created man to be His Khalefah, His trustee on earth (Quran 2:30). Mankind’s basic trust, our responsibility, is to believe in and worship Allah:

  And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me (Quran, 51:56-58)

The statement is very simple, but yet how many of us worship Allah ? Therefore, Allah has sent Messengers to human from time to time to deliver the message of Allah. The essence of Allah’s message through all of the prophets which include (Adam, Abraham, Noah, David, Moses, Jesus and also the final messenger Muhammad, May Allah have peace on all of them) was:  O mankind, worship Allah, you have no deity other than Him. (Quran, 7:59,65,73,85; Also 11:50,61,84; and 23:23,32).  

But the question now is : How do we worship Allah if we Don’t know Him ?

Allah have give a very clear answer on this which is from the Surah Al Ikhlas (Sincerity) :

Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (112:1-4)

Also, Allah has to tell us how He wants to be worshipped, which He does in the Quran. He also tells us in the Quran that all Prophets came with the same identical message to their people - that is to believe in Allah and to worship Him. He also tells us in the Quran that all the people of other religions have deviated from the original teachings of their prophets. This is due to two reasons. The first is that earlier scriptures were not preserved simply because of the absence or scarcity of writing paper and so the teachings were transmitted orally and with time became distorted. The second reason is because the clergy of various religions introduced doctrines that were never there 

Because of the changes that crept into earlier religions, Allah tells us that He sent the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the final messenger and guidance to mankind with a scripture that He promised would be preserved forever. Allah provides a test to prove that the Quran is from Him. Allah says:

 Then do they not reflect upon the Quran? (i.e. its meanings and its objective) If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction. (Quran, 4:82)

The Quran is available for scrutiny and investigation by any person to try to find even one error or contradiction in it. In fact this test must be applied to any other scripture that claims it is the word of God.

Tugas & Sikap Rakyat terhadap pemerintah muslim menurut manhaj Salafi

Ada dua tanggungjawab terhadap pemimpin yang perlu ditunaikan oleh rakyat.

Pertama : Taat. 

Perintah mentaati pemerintah amat jelas dalam Al Quran dan Hadis-Hadis yang sahih.

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, taatlah kamu kepada Allah dan taatlah kamu kepada Rasulullah dan kepada "Ulil-Amri" (orang-orang yang berkuasa) dari kalangan kamu. Kemudian jika kamu berbantah-bantah (berselisihan) dalam sesuatu perkara, maka hendaklah kamu mengembalikannya kepada (Kitab) Allah (Al-Quran) dan (Sunnah) RasulNya - jika kamu benar beriman kepada Allah dan hari akhirat. Yang demikian adalah lebih baik (bagi kamu), dan lebih elok pula kesudahannya.  (An Nisaa : 59)

Sabda Nabi s.a.w :

Maksudnya : "Wajib atas kamu dengar dan taat dalam keadaan susah dan senang, rela dan terpaksa dan dalam keadaan yang merugikan kamu" (Muslim)

Kata Imam al Nawawi:

Maksudnya: Berkata para Ulama: Maknanya adalah WAJIB mentaati pemerintah dalam perkara yang sukar dan dibenci jiwa dan selainnya selama mana ianya bukan maksiat jika ianya maksiat maka tidak ada taat seperti mana yang dinyatakan dalam hadis-hadis yang lain (Sharah Sahih Muslim, 12/224)

Perintah seorang pemerintah itu dapat dibahagikan kepada 3 jenis:

1. Apa yang Allah dan RasulNya perintahkan seperti solat berjemaah, menutup aurat. Hukumnya Wajib ikut.

2. Apa yang Allah dan RasulNya larang seperti dedahkan aurat, isbal pakaian. Hukumnya Haram taat.

3. Apa yang tiada nas syarak sama ada suruhan atau tegahan bahkan ianya adalah atas maslahah dan mafsadah seperti peraturan-peraturan jalan raya. Hukumnya Wajib taat.

(Risalah Taat Wulatil Umur(himpunan fatwa Ibn Baz & Ibn Usaimin berkenaan Taat pemerintah) edaran kerajaan Arab Saudi)


Walaupun haram mentaati perintah maksiat itu namun Haram juga memberontak kepada pemerintah dan memeranginya selama mana dia tidak menjadi kafir. 


Daripada Ummu Salamah rh bahawa Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda:

"Sesungguhnya akan memerintah kamu nanti pemerintah-pemerintah, maka (ada perbuatan mereka) yang kamu setujui dan ada yang kamu ingkar, maka sesiapa yang membenci (maksiat yang mereka lakukan) dia telah terlepas (daripada azab), sesiapa yang mengingkarinya dia selamat, tetapi sesiapa yang reda dan mengikut (maka dia termasuk orang yang bersubahat)". Mereka (sahabat) berkata: Apa tidak patutkah kami memerangi mereka (pemerintah) ? Jawab baginda : Tidak boleh selagi mereka bersolat. (Hadis Muslim, Abu Daud, Al Tarmizi dan lafaz pada Muslim)

Kedua : Al-Nusrah (Pertolongan)

Wajib membantu pemerintah dalam perkara makruf dan mencegah mungkar. Jika pemerintah menyeru kepada jihad, maka Wajib menyahut seruan beliau.

Sabda Nabi s.a.w :

Sesungguhnya imam itu adalah perisai diperangi dibelakangnya dan dijadikan perlindungan, maka jika dia (Imam) menyuruh dengan Taqwa kepada Allah azza wa jalla dan berlaku adil maka ianya merupakan pahala baginya dan jika dia menyuruh dengan sebaliknya maka ia menjadi dosa atasnya ( Bukhari dan Muslim )

Touching song

Here is a song which makes me cry. It was sang by a 12 year old mongolian kid. He will sing this song when he miss his mother. somehow this song do make me sad and also make me miss my father too.



Sedikit pendapat mengenai kursus pra perkahwinan

Salam kepada semua,

Di sini ingin saya mencadangkan sesuatu yang mungkin sesetengah pihak rasa tidak perlu ataupun menyusahkan dan mungkin sesetengah pihak rasa perlu.

Saya rasa kebanyakan orang telah mengetahui bahawa statistik kes cerai di antara muslim adalah sangat tinggi dan membimbangkan. sebab itu salah satu inisiatif yang diambil oleh PAS adalah memberi pakej percutian kepada pasangan yang hendak bercerai. Bagi saya ini merupakan satu inisiatif yang sangat baik. Akan tetapi, saya berpendapat inisiatif tersebut tidak menyelesaikan punca masalah. Kebanyakan pasangan yang hendak cerai akan melaluikan kaunseling untuk menyelamatkan perkahwinan tersebut. Bagi pendapat saya, punca masalah sesebuah perkahwinan adalah sebab ilmu dan akidah kedua-dua pasangan tersebut.

Maka langkah pencegahan sepatutnya diambil sebelum perkahwinan iaitu kursus pra perkahwinan. Setahu saya kebanayakan kursus pra perkahwinan adalah dalam tempoh 2 ataupun 3 hari. Soalan saya ialah: Adakah kursus 3 hari cukup untuk menyediakan sesebuah pasangan untuk alam perkahwinan?

Oleh itu, saya mencadangkan supaya kursus pra perkahwinan dibuat sekurang-kurangnya 3 hingga 4 bulan ataupun lebih. Sebabnya adalah seperti berikut :

1. Sekiranya sesebuah pasangan yang sememangnya tidak menitikberatkan agama, kursus pra perkahwinan yang sebenarnya adalah langkah terakhir untuk memantapkan akidah mereka dan juga melahirkan generasi muslim yang baik sebelum mereka ada zuriat. Sebab akidah seseorang anak adalah bergantung kepada kedua ibubapanya.

2. Kursus selama 3 hingga 4 bulan dapat mengajar dengan lebih mendalam untuk setiap topik yang hendak disampaikan.

Manakala untuk cadangan topik adalah seperti berikut:

1. Pemantapan akidah

2. Kelas Iqra untuk yang tidak tahu baca Quran dan Kelas tajwid untuk yang tidak bagus dalam tajwid.

3. Tanggungjawab seorang suami dan isteri

Kursus ini boleh dikecualikan untuk sesetengah orang yang sememangnya mengamalkan Islam dengan baik. Akan tetapi biarlah ia melalui ujian untuk menentukan samada orang tersebut mempunyai ilmu yang cukup bagi membimbing sesebuah keluarga.

Kursus ini juga tidak semestinya dijalankan serentak, ia boleh diadakan setiap Sabtu dan Ahad. Ini adalah untuk memudahkan orang yang bekerja bagi hadir untuk kursus ini. Daripada situlah sebenarnya kursus tersebut tidak memerlukan kos dan tenaga pengajar boleh diambil dari tenaga pengajar masjid ataupun surau yang sememangnya pakar dalam bidang tersebut.

Mungkin sesetengah orang akan cakap bahawa kursus ini menyusahkan. Akan tetapi fikirlah, sekiranya kita tidak mampu memikul tanggungjawab untuk belajar agama untuk 3 hingga 4 bulan, adakah kita mampu untuk memikul tanggungjawab dalam perkahwinan ?

Akhir sekali, sekiranya ada cadangan boleh cadangkan , sesungguhnya saya tidaklah sempurna dan sentiasa memerlukan teguran.

The Syahadah

In the name of Allah most gracious, most merciful.

Last sunday, I attended one lecture in Al Khaadem. Here is just a brief of what i remember and take note from the lecture.

In Islam we believe that all the prophets are send by Allah s.w.t and all of them came with one message. The message is to worship none but Allah and the only religion besides Allah is Islam.

Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam) (Al Baqarah :136)

 The Religion before Allah is Islam (submission to His Will) (Al Imran :19)

We know that All muslim will recite the shahadah a lot of times in their life. But how many of us actually know what is the meaning and also implication of it? How many of us know what is the implicaiton of it? and how many of us know what is the condition in becoming a muslim.

To become a muslim / the condition in reciting the shahadah, one must have the following :

1. Knowledge : This is the knowledge of knowing what the testimonial (shahadah) entails. In simple, we need to know what is the meaning of the shahadah.

2. Certainty : Certainty of the truth of the testimony. In simple, we need to be sure of the truth of the testimony.

3. Acceptance : Accept the testimonial not only with tougue but also with the heart. As a muslim, we have to accept all that we know which is from pure source. This is because once we have prove that it is from pure source, we have to abide by it as Allah has ask us to enter/follow Islam teaching completely. Pharoh is very certain that prophet Musa a.s is a messenger of Allah but he rejected him.

4. Submission and compliances : Do everything that Allah and the prophet ask to do. After we have accept by tougue and heart the truth, we have to submit to it through doing it. It is true that every one will commit sin, but true believers will recognize that they have done a sin and repent after doing it. It is different from people who have done sin but yet still feel it is not wrong.

5. Truthfullness : When the person recite the shahadah, it has to be sincere and truthfully from the heart. There should be totally no force and also not because of any benefit that we can get after reciting the shahadah. There should be no compulsion at all in reciting the shahadah as Allah has already stated in the Quran :

Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things. (Al Baqarah :256)

6. Purity : We say the shahadah purely for the sake of Allah.

7. Love : When we recite the shahadah, we love the shahadah, we love the implication of it, and we love the people who do what Allah ask to do.

8. Denying other object beside Allah : If we have notice this, when we recite the shahadah, Allah has actually instruct to us to deny worshipping other before bear witness in worshipping him.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of woship : Denying part

9. Adhere to the testimonial until die : As a muslim we should always try our best to adhere to this testimonial until we die. This is because we may not know whether we will die as a muslim or not. None can guarantee that he/she will die as a muslim whether he/she is a born muslim / revert / non muslim. All things that happen is because of Allah's will and not our will.

A kind reminder to all : Dont simple judge a person faith when we ourself is not even guarantee to die as a muslim.

Question to all : A normal muslim who will perform their 5 times solat will at least recite the shahadah 9 times in a day. The question is how many times that we actually fullfill all the 9 conditions when we recite the shahadah ? 

Allah knows best.